In the first ever staging in Ireland of one of the greatest baroque operas, Monteverdi’s magnificent music finds a perfect creative match in the human drama of Homer’s Odyssey.

Ten years after the fall of Troy, the hero Ulysses has still not found his way home as the gods quarrel over his fate. In Ithaca, his wife Penelope has waited faithfully, hoping against hope that he may still be alive. Meanwhile the suitors are circling…

The groundbreaking company Opera Collective Ireland joins forces with Kilkenny Arts Festival to showcase Ireland’s finest operatic talent of the younger generation in a new production by Tony Award-winning director Patrick Mason. Christian Curnyn returns to the Festival following superb performances of Idomeneo and Giulio Cesare to conduct one of the world’s most acclaimed early music ensembles, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. The heart-stopping tale of true love in the face of adversity is performed in a vivid new English translation by Christopher Cowell.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience a glorious operatic marriage of Homer’s epic and renaissance Venice.

The production is generously supported by First Berlin GmbH

Supported by the Opera Syndicate.

Duration: 3hrs. 30mins approx (including interval)

Director
Patrick Mason

Conductor
Christian Curnyn

Set & Lighting Design
Paul Keogan

Costume Design
Catherine Fay

Cast
Eoin Conway Human Frailty/Peisander
Brendan Collins Time/Antinous
Rachel Goode Fortune/Juno
Emma Morwood Love/Minerva
Andrew Boushell Jove/Amphinous
Alan Ewing Neptune
Gyula Nagy Ulysses
Raphaela Mangan Penelope
Andrew Gavin Telemachus
Peter Harris Eurymachus
Rory Musgrave Eumaeus
Bríd Ní Ghruagáin Euryclea
Ross Scanlon Irus
Margaret Bridge Melantho